the white shirt #milan2014

COS X NENDO Photo courtesy Cos

During the Design week in Milan we look for a lot of informations, new talents and innovative design. It is a noisy but necessary experience. Sometime, a peaceful installation give us some rest. « Cos by Nendo » was one of these moments : a minimal and monochromatic installation was enhancing the brand ‘s values in a very silent way. A great example of fusion between Japanese minimalism and Scandinavian simplicity.

For the third time , Cos, the fashion brand was in Milan. This year with an exclusively installation and a temporary concept store both designed by Nendo, the Japanese Design Studio.

Nendo’s concept was « re-imagining the everyday to create a small ‘!’ moment. » This ‘!’ moment was made with simple white shirts and stacked steel frames.

Oki Sato, Chief Designer of Nendo said of the collaboration, “I feel that Nendo and COS have a lot in common. The simplicity, the way we both concentrate on details, and the way we deliver richness. Richness, not in terms of high status, but about enjoying life, and giving people a small smile.When you look at a white shirt from COS it explains so much, so I decided to let the shirt do the talking.The smartly ordered shirts are crisp, classic white until they fall inside the steel cube frames, at which point they take on colour as though the space itself has dyed them.’

Karin Gustafsson, Head of Womenswear Design at COS said, “We love the understated aesthetic and clever craftsmanship and design of the installation. It is interesting to see the white shirt become a canvas in this installation, we like the geometric construction and how it shifts the colours of the shirt and the tactile tonal colour palette.”

At the temporary concept store a selection of COS pieces and items by Nendo were featured. For Oki Sato there are no borders between design and architecture : « They both exist to make our lives comfortable and beautiful. »